Sinn Fein chief negotiator Martin McGuinness has said that moves by the
two governments to implement commitments in the Joint Declaration on
Criminal Justice, equality and the Irish language represent progress on
these important issues.

``The most important issue facing us is the cancellation of the election
and on-going suspension of the political institutions. There is
widespread concern that the two governments have not set a fixed date
for the cancelled elections.

``However, there has been progress on a number of key issues as a result
of the commitments which Sinn Fein achieved in the recent negotiation.

``We will see movement on the issue of the Irish language and on
equality matters. In addition, the entire issue of Criminal Justice has
been opened up. There will be a new Bill to address some of the major
flaws in the earlier legislation and this will cover the important
issues of human rights and representativeness. It will also become an
offence to interfere with or try to influence the prosecution service.
This will have implications for cases involving agents or agencies of
the state and there will be a new mechanism to deal with complaints
against the prosecution service.

``All of this represents progress but much work remains to be done to
ensure that the two governments deliver on their obligations under the
terms of the Good Friday Agreement. Sinn Fein will continue to apply
the Agreement as the essential benchmark in all of this.''